A Conceptual Inquiry in Light of General Semantic Scope

Abstract

This study explores the concept of hakimiyyah in Islamic thought through a detailed analytical examination grounded in the semantic range of the root Hokm (حكم) as it appears in the Islamic revealed texts. It investigates the meanings and usages of this root in the Qur’an and the Prophetic Sunnah in order to demonstrate the comprehensiveness of the concept and the breadth of its doctrinal, legislative, and political dimensions.

The study employs an inductive and analytical method informed by the notion of general semantic scope, treating it as a methodological approach that helps uncover the overarching meanings embedded in the texts and guards against reducing hakimiyyah to a single dimension, especially its political aspect.

The study concludes that hakimiyyah in Islam is intrinsically linked to tawhid, and that it is founded upon the authority of revelation in legislation and guidance, while still affirming the role of human reasoning and juristic interpretation within the bounds of that reference framework. It further shows that the textual indications of hakimiyyah in the Shar‘i sources are diverse and integrated, reflecting its comprehensiveness and its extension across the various spheres of life.

The study ultimately calls for a reconsideration of hakimiyyah within its balanced and holistic framework, reconnecting it to its creedal foundations and higher legal objectives in a way that yields a more accurate and methodologically coherent understanding in harmony with the Islamic worldview.